Nanny McPhee
Starring: Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Kelly Macdonald, Angela Lansbury, Imelda Staunton
Directed by: Kirk Jones

Released in the US: January 27th, 2006
Released in the UK: 2005

Reviewed by: The Boneman, ZBoneman.com

Nanny McPhee is the sort of movie that you should watch immediately after Hostel or Capote, just to restore the balance of humanity in your brain, a “malice cleanser.” Nobody needs to lie in bed and ponder the finer points of Hostel. Nanny McPhee was written and performed by Emma Thompson, a Mary Poppins-esque pleaser for both young and old, drawn from the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand.

Like Mary Poppins, McPhee seems to appear from the heavens when needed and vanish when her work is done. Unlike Poppins, Nanny McPhee is hardly the sort of woman to give single men fantasies of jolly holidays in a watercolor wonderland. With her bulbous prosthetic nose, hairy warts, a single bucktooth, she’s kind of a Clem Kadiddlehopper in a modest dress, with a magic way with the youngsters.

McPhee’s services become necessary when a family of seven (3 boys and 4 girls) lose their mother, leaving their father (Colin Firth) so heartbroken and beside himself that he’s wholly unable to keep tabs on the emotional needs of the kids, who have reacted to the loss of their mother by becoming incorrigible hellions. The movie opens with their former Nanny dashing from the house in hysterics, eventually to report that the children had eaten the baby. At this point I certainly had no idea what sort of business I’d got myself and my family into, but as it turns out, the kids have simply dressed a chicken in the toddlers clothes and given the poor woman all she could take.

Enter Nanny McPhee, who seems unaware of her disconcerting appearance and sets about fixing these Brit brats who we know are decent youngsters acting out in the only way they know. McPhee’s manner is less strict and proper as her famous precursor, but she does have her magic ways. For example the children decide to play hooky one day, all claiming to be too ill to manage to get out of bed. In one of the funnier sequences McPhee casts a spell on the kids that holds them fast to their beds, in spite of their most vigorous efforts to rise and shine.

McPhee sags a bit in the second half, when the plot shifts to the plight of father Firth whose financial straits have gotten him into an unenviable pickle. In order to keep the household from going under, he must approach his imperious and crotchety aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) hat in hand, to ask for temporary assistance. As it turns out her financial support comes with some awfully unthinkable conditions. She insists that Firth re-marry within a month or the cash flow will cease. Sadly the only eligible bride for miles is a frigid and miserable widow by the name of Selma Quickly. Not only is she cold and nasty but she also happens to despise children.

Thus with the classic showdown so arranged, it remains to be seen just how the scenario with play itself out. Naturally the children want nothing to do with the garish shrew of a woman, for their father or themselves, but what are they to do? Turn to their newest friend and savior Nanny McPhee of course. With the ball in Nanny’s court, I’ll leave you to guess how the dreadful crisis works itself out. Nanny McPhee is an easy film to recommend, there are plenty of strong messages and lessons all, of course, administered with a spoonful of sugar. So by all means do yourself a favor and load the kids in the minivan and head for the local multi-plex for the answer lies within and I shall never tell.

Kirk Jones directs here, his first effort in nearly eight years when he directed the popular Irish hit Waking Ned Devine. Credit Jones with not only getting wonderful performances out of the children, but remarkably strong and sincere work out of the adult cast - which also includes Imelda Staunton, Kelly Macdonald and Celia Imrie. The storybook fantasy feel of the film is given a big assist by Michael Howell’s production. Lots of bold primary colors liven a set well photographed by Henry Braham. Much credit for the charm of the film belongs to Emma Thomson for her lively and wit-filled script. Nanny McPhee is pure magic from soup to nuts and a highly recommended night out for the whole family.

Grade: B